EC: The Enrico Carusos

Infield: Second baseman Eddie Collins (1906-30) is on the short list of the greatest second basemen of all time. Some, in fact, would argue that he edges past Rogers Hornsby and Joe Morgan to sit on top of that list. He was a .333 hitter who led the American League three times in runs and three times in steals. His 3,315 hits are 10^th all-time (until Jeter passes him in early 2013), and he scored 1,821 runs. He drew lots of walks and never struck out, holds the career record for sac bunts and was a wonderful defensive infielder. Almost as important, he was an Ivy League college boy with a sharp intellect and a reputation as a great leader. Collins began his career in Philadelphia as part of Connie Mack’s fabled Million Dollar Infield (which remains a quaint phrase in these days of millon-dollar utility infielders) and then moved to the White Sox (and if Shoeless Joe had fallen in with Collins instead of the gamblers, he would be in the Hall of Fame today). A gentleman and a competitor. Third baseman Eric Chavez (1998- ) won six Gold Gloves and is coming up on 250 career home runs. Once arguably the best third baseman in the game, he is now a valuable role player in his mid-30s. First baseman Enos Cabell (1972-86) was sort of a transitional player – a guy who was in his prime as the sabermetric wave hit baseball, and who was considered a good player before the wave (decent average, hustle, good reputation) and a bad player after (miserable batting eye, poor stolen base percentage, weak defensive stats). This point was brought home in a memorable comment from an early Bill James Baseball Abstract, when James quoted Sparky Anderson praising Cabell’s attitude and then went on to say that attitude means very little when a guy simply can’t play baseball. In the end, Cabell had a .277 batting average, but was barely over .300 in on-base and well below .400 in slugging. Shortstop Ed Caskin (1879-86) batted .226 but had the reputation as a slick fielder.

Outfield: Center fielder Earle Combs (1924-35) was the leadoff batter for the Murderers Row Yankees, and as such he scored 996 runs in an eight-year stretch during his prime. He batted .325, drew some walks and led the league in triples three times. He played on four championship teams and batted .350 in the World Series. Combs (pronounced to rhyme with “rooms”) was a fleet runner and good outfielder, but he had a notoriously weak throwing arm. Injuries in 1934 (concussion) and 1935 (broken collarbone) ended his career, but if you take a look at what Joe DiMaggio was doing in the minors at that time, you know it was just a matter of time anyway. Left fielder Endy Chavez (2001- ) makes contact, runs well and plays a decent outfield. He doesn’t get on base enough to be a productive starter, but he has his attributes. Chavez was the last player to come to the plate wearing a Montreal Expos uniform. Right fielder Ed Coleman (1932-36) was a longtime minor-league star who arrived in the majors at age 30 and hit .342 in a trial with the Philadelphia A’s. He settled in and batted .280 for several years, and then went back to the minors and kept playing until he was 40.

Catcher: Ed Connolly Sr. (1929-32) batted .178 in four seasons as a reserve for the Red Sox between the ages of 20-23. His son, Ed Junior, came to the majors and was every bit as ineffective as a pitcher as Ed Senior was as a hitter.

Rotation: Knuckleballer (and legal spitballer) Eddie Cicotte (1905-20) was, after Shoeless Joe Jackson, the second-best player among the Black Sox players who were banned for throwing the 1919 World Series. If he hadn’t falled in with the crooks, in fact, Cicotte would have been a good candidate for the Hall of Fame. His career record was 209-148, and while he was in his mid-30s at the time of his banishment, Cicotte went 21-10 in his last season and still seemed to have a few thousand knucklers left in his arm. He agreed to be part of the fix because he hated the White Sox’s cheapsake owner Charlie Comiskey, and as the Game 1 starter, it was Cicotte who plunked Cincinnati leadoff batter Morrie Rath as the signal to the gamblers that the fix was on. His stats in his three starts during the 1919 World Series aren’t all that alarming, but he gave up crucial hits and apparently fielded his position like Helen Keller. An outstanding pitcher with a tarnished legacy. Ed “Cannonball” Crane (1884-93) led the American Association in ERA in 1891. Perhaps his nickname should have been “Scattershot,” because he walked a ton of batters and uncorked plenty of wild pitches. Crane started out as an outfielder but shifted to the mound because of his live arm. He was an umpire for a few years after his playing career, but his drinking became problematic. Lefty Ed Cushman (1883-90) went 62-81 for five teams. Edwin Correa (1985-87) was in the majors at 19 and done by 21. He had a powerful but erratic arm, averaging 8 strikeouts and 6 walks per nine innings. He pitched 202 innings at the age of 20, striking out 189 and walking 126, so you know his pitch counts were high, and his arm blew out midway through the next season. As a side note, Correa was a Seventh Day Adventist, so his managers had to work the rotation so that he could avoid pitching the Sabbath. Ed Connolly  Jr. (1964-67) went 6-12 with a 5.88 ERA. We’ll see if pitching to Dad helps any.

 Bullpen: Closer Ernie Camacho (1980-90) had one decent season in the closer role for the Indians, saving 23 games with a 2.43 ERA in 1984. He couldn’t pitch well enough to hold that job, and he finished his career with 45 saves. Other than that one season, he was never more than an ordinary pitcher. Earl “Teach” Caldwell (1928-48) pitched in the minors until he was almost 50, winning more than 300 games. Along the way,  he got enough time in the majors to log 200 games and a 23-43 record. Ed Cole (1938-39) went 1-7 for the St. Louis Browns, averaging 17 baserunners and three strikeouts per nine innings. Esmailin Caridad (2009- ) pitched well for the Cubs in a few games in 2009 but then got pounded in a few games in 2010. Still hanging around the minors and could resurface. Ed Carroll (1929) finished his career with a 1-0 record, and if you stop there he looks pretty good. If you look beyond that, not so much. Ed Chandler (1947) went 0-1 and gave up seven home runs in 30 innings. Lefty Ensign Cottrell (1911-15)  had a five-year career, but in four of those seasons he appeared in only 1 or 2 games, finishing with a dozen appearances during his career. His given name was Ensign Stover Cottrell, and he goes on some sort of specialty team with others players such as General Crowder, Admiral Schlei and perhaps Cap Anson.

 Bench: Infielder Ed Charles (1962-69) was a solid ballplayer for many years, with a little bit of pop and a little bit of speed. He will always be remembered as the third baseman for the 1969 World Series champion Mets. Google the phrase “Miracle Mets” and you will inevitably get a photograph of Charles dancing in from third base while Jerry Grote and Jerry Koosman celebrate on the mound. He was also known as The Poet Laureate of Baseball; he would recite his original poems on TV shows and send them to kids who wrote to him for autographs. Outfielder Estel Crabtree (1929-44) was a decent lefty hitter for the Cardinals and the Reds, and he will certainly get some playing time in left and right. Catcher Ed Colgan (1884) batted .155 in his only season. First baseman Ed Cartwright (1890-97) was 5-foot-10 and weighed 220 pounds, for which reason he was nicknamed “Jumbo,” but we will retroactively call him “Hoss.” He ran well enough to pile up lots of steals and triples, and he batted .295, so we’ll ride the Hoss plenty off the bench (if he doesn’t take the starting job away from Enos Cabell, that is). Ernie Courtney (1902-08) was a solid utility player, mostly for the Phillies.

Manager: Eddie Collins will serve as player-manager. He managed the White Sox for a few years in the 1920s, compiling a 174-160 record, before he was released as a player and returned to Connie Mack and the A’s to finish his career. Spent several more years as a coach and general manager.

EH: The Ernest Hemingways

Infield: Shortstop Enzo Hernandez (1971-78) is famous for driving in 12 runs in 618 plate appearances for the San Diego Padres in 1971. Now, part of that is explained by the fact that he was batting leadoff. That’s right, a 22-year-old rookie, batting .222 and with an on-base percentage below .300, hit leadoff for most of the season. If you look at the Padres' roster that year, he was probably as good as anyone else they could have batted leadoff, but still, he was pretty awful. Those numbers are representative of his career productivity (in both the minors and the majors), and yet he spent the great bulk of his career batting either leadoff or second. This is reflective of the idea, long-established but especially widespread in the 1970s, that light-hitting middle infielders (especially speedy little Latinos) had some sort of magical “bat control” that made them effective leadoff batters even if it was abundantly clear that they couldn’t hit. People assumed he was a good-field, no-hit shortstop, but the truth is, he wasn’t all that good in the field either. Third baseman Eric Hinske (2002- ) won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 2002, batting .279 with 24 home runs for Toronto. He never really built on that, but he didn’t regress all that much either, and he has fashioned a solid career as a platoon guy and role player. He’s approaching 150 career home runs and he’s barely in his mid-30s. First baseman Eric Hosmer (2011- ) is a star on the rise. The Royals took him with the third pick in the 2008 draft. He bashed his way through the minors and became the starter in Kansas City at age 21. We'll see where he goes from here. Second baseman Edson Hemingway (1914-18) played in a grand total of 43 major-league games and batted .227.

Outfield: Elston Howard (1955-68) was a catcher but spent a fair amount of time in the outfield, both as a youngster in the Negro Leagues and for his first several years in the majors, because someone was blocking his path to the starting job behind the plate. So it’s approprate that he’s moved to left field on this team – he’s the best E.H. catcher of the bunch, but the fact remains that this “initial team” has three viable catchers and a weak outfield. Howard, the first black player in the history of the Yankees, was a second-line star at the end of the team’s great dynasty, gradually taking over the catching job from Yogi Berra. He was a good hitter (.274 with 167 career home runs), the AL’s MVP in 1963, and a member of 10 pennant winners and four World Series champions. After finishing his playing career with the Red Sox, he helped develop and market the newfangled batting doughnut that players use to warm-up in the on-deck circle. Right fielder Ed “Don’t Call Me Noodles” Hahn (1905-10) played in the deadball era and batted .237, which wasn’t really all that bad in the context of his time. He won a World Series title as the leadoff batter for the 1906 White Sox. Center fielder Emmet Heidrick (1898-1908) was nicknamed “Snags,” so he must have been a good fielder, and he banged out 10-15 triples a year, so he clearly had some wheels. He was a .300 hitter who jumped from the St. Louis Cardinals to the St. Louis Browns in 1902.

Catcher: Ed Herrmann (1967-78) and Elrod Hendricks (1968-79) were both lefty hitters, so they can’t really platoon per se, but they will share duties behind home plate. Hendricks was famous for his ability to “handle pitchers” and was a fine role player for Earl Weaver’s great Orioles teams that were built on pitching and defense. Herrmann spent most of his career with the White Sox. He could hit 10-12 home runs in a good season and had 80 in his career. They were two of the slowest baserunners of the 1970s. Hendricks had both of his insteps crushed when his feet were run over by a car as a child, but Herrmann had no such excuse and was just plain naturally slow. They will occasionally entertain fans by competing in a footrace around the bases (with announcer Ernie Harwell calling the race over the P.A.).

Rotation: Erik Hanson (1988-98) had a wicked curveball. He was a good pitcher who never quite became the star that people expected him to be. He had some very good seasons – 18 wins and 211 strikeouts for a bad Mariners team in 1990, 15-5 and a spot in the All-Star Game for the Red Sox in 1995 – and overall he had a solid career, winning 89 games with a 4.15 ERA and a good strikeout-to-walk ratio. Folks kept expecting him to emerge as an ace starter, but instead he settled in as a solid, dependable middle-of-the-rotation guy. Lefty Earl Hamilton (1911-24) won 115 games, mostly for the St. Louis Browns and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a solid, durable pitcher over the course of a long career. Egyptian Healy (1885-92) was born John J. Healy, but because his hometown was Cairo, Ill., they called him “Egyptian.” That’s what passed for clever in 19th-century baseball. He had a career record of 78-136, highlighted by a 12-29 record at age 20 with Indianapolis in 1887. Ed Halicki (1974-80) was a 6-foot-7 righty who pitched, appropriately, for the Giants. He threw a no-hitter in 1975 and won 16 games in 1977. Ed Holley (1928-34) had a career record of 25-40, mostly for the Phillies.

Bullpen: Earl Harrist (1945-53) will start the season as closer on this team despite a 12-28 career record and a 4.34 ERA. The itinerant righty did have 10 saves in his career. Ed Heusser (1935-48), a.k.a. “The Wild Elk of the Wasatch,” is probably the best reliever on the team, and he will probably take over the closer role from Harrist, but well, it’s hard to hand the closer job to a guy you call “Wild Elk.” On the other hand, Heusser was a swingman who had 56 wins and 18 saves in his career, and in 1944 he led the NL with a 2.38 ERA. Ed Head (1940-46) won 27 games for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and if we ever put together a team of players with rhyming names, he’ll be on that one, too (along with Don Hahn and Mark Clark, as well as honorary announcer Harry Caray). Ed Hobaugh (1961-63) pitched a couple of years for the Washington Senators. Ed Hanyzewski (1942-46) won a dozen games for the Cubs during World War II. Eric Hillman (1992-94) was a good pitcher at Triple-A and had some good years in Japan, but in the majors he had a 4-14 record and a 4.85 ERA. The 6-foot-10 Hillman will room with Ed Halicki on the road, and they can complain to each other about the short beds and low shower heads in the team hotels. Ernie Herbert (1913-15) spent most of his career in the minors but did win two games in the Federal League.

Bench: One of the starting catchers, Herrmann and Hendricks, will always be avaiable in case they are needed to pinch-hit or (ha ha) pinch-run. Infielder Ed Holly (1906-15) wasn’t much of a hitter. He’ll room with Ed Holley on the road, so that if anyone asks, “What room is Ed Holley in?” the road secretary won’t have to say “Which one?” Infielder Ed Hallinan (1911-12) batted .211 and fielded below .900. First baseman Emil Huhn (1915-17) batted .300 in a long minor-league career but never did much in the majors. Outfielder Ed Householder (1903) had a fine minor-league career but played in just a dozen games in the majors.

Manager: Eddie Haas had a long affiliation with the Atlanta Braves as a coach and minor-league manager. He managed the team in 1985 but was fired before the season ended.

EM: The Eddie Moneys

Infield: First baseman Eddie Murray and third baseman Eddie Mathews give this team a pair of Hall of Famers on the corner, and in doing so, in the absence of a designated hitter, they relegate Edgar Martinez to the bench, making him almost certainly the best player to be denied a starting job in this whole Baseball Initially project. Murray (1977-97) was one of the most consistent sluggers of all time, and he finished his career with 3,255 hits, 504 home runs, 1,917 RBI and 1,627 runs. He had six seasons of 100 or more RBI, and another six with 90-99 RBI, plus the 1981 season in which he had a league-leading 78 RBI despite the season being shortened by the strike. For good measure, he also won three Gold Gloves. Mathews (1952-68) was the greatest third baseman of all time before Brett and Schmidt arrived on the scene. He was actually a similar player to Schmidt, a .270 hitter who walked 100 times a year and hit 512 home runs. He wasn’t as good as Schmidt with the glove, but he was good, and he teamed with Hank Aaron for a decade to form one of baseball’s great power-hitting duos. Shortstop Ed McKean (1887-99) was a small, speedy guy who batted .302 for his career. He was a fine, durable player – first man ever with 600 at-bats in a season – and he finished his career with 2,084 hits, 1,124 RBI and 1,227 runs. Second baseman Eric “Boob” McNair (1929-42) came up at age 20 with Connie Mack’s powerhouse Philadelphia A’s and was a part-time player with the championship teams of 1930-31. He moved into a full-time job in 1932 and led the American League with 47 doubles, and while he never developed into a star, he was good enough to hang around the majors until his mid-30s.

Outfield: Center fielder Eddie Milner (1980-88) had great speed and was a terrific defensive outfielder. He had a little bit of pop and a good batting eye. He wasn’t a great player, but he had enough skills to be a valuable piece of a good team under the right circumstances. Left fielder Elmer Miller (1912-22) was a fine minor-league hitter who never did much in the majors, though he did lead the AL by getting hit by pitches nine times in 1917, the only time in his career that he ever appeared in more than 100 games. Right fielder Honest Eddie Murphy (1912-26) also led the league in being hit by a pitch – 14 times in 1914, the same year he also led the league by getting thrown out stealing 32 times. That said, he was a better hitter than either Milner or Miller – a .287 career average with a very good batting eye, but no power at all. Given the chance to bat in the 2-hole, behind McKean and ahead of Murray and Mathews, he could score 100 runs.

Catcher: Ed McFarland (1893-1908) was a .270 hitter with decent defensive skills who put together a respectable career in the deadball era.

Rotation: Ed “Cannonball” Morris (1884-90) was one of those short-career workhorse types from the 1880s. He arrived on the scene at age 21 and proceeded to win 114 games in his first three seasons, starting 59 games and working 522 innings per season. He had a good run but a relatively short one, posting one more good season after age 23 and finishing his career with 171 victories. Earl Moore (1901-14) was known as “Crossfire,” which suggests that he was probably a sidearmer, and he was also known as “Steam Engine in Boots,” which suggests that he either threw hard or had breathing difficulties. He won 163 games in his career and led the AL in ERA in 1903 (20-8, 1.74 for Cleveland). He led the league in walks twice and losses once, but also led in strikeouts once. In 1908, he set a record that still stands – most innings pitched in a season with a 0.00 earned-run average (26 innings). He did give up four unearned runs that year, leading to his 2-1 record. Eric Milton (1998-2009) was a first-round draft pick and big-name prospect with the Yankees before he was traded to the Twins as part of a four-player package for Chuck Knoblauch. Milton had a decent career, tossing a no-hitter in 1999 and winning 13-15 games four times between 2000-04, but his career was cut short by back surgery. Erskine Mayer (1912-19) had a couple of fine years for the Phillies, winning 21 games in 1914 and then matching that total the following season. In 1915, he pitched in the first World Series game attended by the president of the United States (Woodrow Wilson), and he finished his major-league career in 1919 with an inning of mop-up relief in the World Series for the Black Sox. Elmer Myers (1915-22) wasn’t a great pitcher, and he didn’t pitch for great teams. He went 55-72 for his career.

Bullpen: This will absolutely be a “committee” bullpen, in the worst sense of the word. Euel “Chief” Moore (1934-36) saved three games for the Phillies, but his career record (9-16, 5.48 ERA) suggests that he might have problems closing games. Edward Mujica (2006- ) is a Venezuelan righty who has emerged as a decent middle reliever for the Padres. He might actually take over the closer role here. Big Ed Morris (1922-31) came up with the Cubs at age 22 and got lit up a few times before returning to the minors. He resurfaced with the Red Sox six years later and was an average pitcher for a few seasons. Ernie McAnally (1971-74) was primarily a starter for the Expos, but he will most likely work as an inning-eating workhorse out of the pen here. Ed Moyer (1910) is no relation to Jamie, though they are roughly the same age. Ha ha, just kidding. Ed Moyer worked three games with the Senators in 1910, and his career ERA of 3.24 looks much better today than it did back then (the league-wide ERA that year was 2.52). Ed Murphy (1898-1903) pitched mostly for the Cardinals at the turn of the century, and similar to Moyer, he had a career ERA (3.64) that looks a lot better today than it does in the context of his time. Earl Moseley (1913-16) led the upstart Federal League in ERA (1.91) in 1915. He played for four teams in four seasons, jumping around three leagues, and finished with a 49-48 career record.

Bench: Edgar Martinez (1987-2004) was one of the best hitters of his generation but never became a household name because he played in Seattle, was overshadowed by Griffey and the Big Unit, and had a quiet demeanor. He came up as a third baseman and was alright defensively but had injury problems, which prompted the Mariners to make him a full-time designated hitter. He thrived in that role, winning two batting titles and leading the AL in on-base percentage three times, doubles twice, and runs and RBI once apiece. He was a .312 career hitter who averaged, per 162 games, 41 doubles, 24 home runs and 101 walks. There are fans in Seattle who give him credit for keeping the franchise there.The team was on the verge of moving out of town in 1995, when the Mariners made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In the ALDS against the Yankees, Martinez batted .571, drove in 10 runs in five games and came up with the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 11th inning of the decisive fifth game, electrifying the fan base and renewing interest in the team. On the E.M. team, shoved to the bench by two Hall of Famers, he looks to be one hell of a pinch-hitter. Elliot Maddox (1970-80) was a valuable role player – a decent outfielder and an average hitter who could be stretched to play third base and who, in fact, played every position but pitcher and catcher at some point in his career. Eddie Miller (1936-50) was a brilliant defensive shortstop who could hit a dozen home runs a year. He was picked for seven all-star teams and received MVP votes in eight different seasons (though he only finished in the top 10 in the voting once). Eli Marrero (1997-2006) came up as a catcher with the Cardinals. He missed most of the 2000 season while recovering from thyroid cancer, and when he returned he was used a utility man who could play outfield, first or catch. He was never a very good hitter, but he was occasionally effective in a platoon role. Earl McNeely (1924-31) was an outfielder who, as a rookie, gave the Washington Senators their only World Series title, delivering a walk-off double in the bottom of the 12th in Game 7 to defeat the Giants. That was the highlight of his career.

Manager: Earle Mack, born Earle Thaddeus McGillicuddy, had bloodlines in his favor. The son of Connie Mack, he had a brief playing career and then became one of his dad’s coaches. Twice, in 1937 and 1939, he filled in for his dad as manager of the Philadelphia A’s. His career record was 45-77. Earle looks forward to the schedule dates when the Eddie Moneys take on the Cornbread Maxwells.

ER: The Emergency Room

Infield: Shortstop Edgar Renteria (1996- ) has had quite a career. He’s gone to the World Series with three different teams, winning unexpected championships with Florida in 1997 (he had the walk-off RBI single in the 11th inning of Game 7) and with San Francisco in 2010 (he was named MVP of the Series). He finished the 2011 season with 2,327 hits and 1,200 runs, but he appears to be running out of gas in his mid-30s. He’s played in five all-star games and won two Gold Gloves. First baseman Eddie Robinson (1942-57) was a big, slow lefty slugger who moved around so much that in his 13-year career he played for seven of the “original eight” American League teams (the only one he missed was the Red Sox, and he later served as a scout for that team). He was a fine hitter who had some pop and rarely struck out. The start of his career was delayed by military service, but he made up for lost time, winning a World Series title with Cleveland in 1948 and driving in 323 runs in three years during his early 30s. Third baseman Ernest Riles (1985-93) and second baseman Ed Romero (1977-90) were both journeyman utility infielders, and they were teammates for a while with the Milwaukee Brewers in the mid-1980s. They were both weak hitters, though Riles was certainly better than Romero.

Outfield: Center fielder Edd Roush (1913-31) won two batting titles, hit .323 for his career and was an exceptional defensive outfielder in a career than landed him in the Hall of Fame. He spent most of his career in Cincinnati, winning a (tainted) World Series title in 1919 against the Black Sox. He was a classic contact hitter from his era, striking out about 20 times a year, stealing bases and legging out doubles and triples. Roush lived to be 94 and was the last surviving guy who had played in the upstart Federal League. Right fielder Earl Robinson (1958-64) was a decent young hitter for the Orioles whose career ended in his late 20s due to injuries. A two-sport star at University of California, he later became a basketball coach at the junior college level. Left fielder Earl Rapp (1949-52) spent three years in the majors and was traded at midseason in each year. A .262 career batting average with no power or speed to speak of.

Catcher: Ellie Rodriguez (1968-76) came up with the Yankees during their post-Mantle doldrums, then spent a few years with the foundling Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers. A decent contact hitter with a good batting eye, he was good enough to plug holes in major-league lineups for several seasons.

Rotation: Lefty Eppa Rixey (1912-33) won 266 games for the Reds and Phillies. He also lost 251 games. He had four seasons of 20 or more victories and two seasons of 20 or more losses. He was a durable, solid pitcher who made it to the Hall of Fame on the bases of his career victory total. Rixey was a University of Virginia graduate who earned a Master’s degree in chemistry duing the offseason. He also taught Latin to high school students. Eddie Rommel (1920-32) was a better pitcher than Rixey, in a shorter career, and he did not make the Hall of Fame. Rommel, a knuckleballer for the Philadelphia A’s, went 171-119 while splitting his time between the rotation and the bullpen. Rommel was a “pitch to contact” guy – he struck out fewer than 600 batters in 2,556 career innings – and in 1922 he went 27-13 for the 65-89 A’s. After he retired, he had a long career as an umpire. Big Ed Reulbach (1905-17) was also better than Rixey in a shorter career and also didn’t make the Hall of Fame. His career record was 182-106, and pitching for the powerhouse Cubs he led the NL in winning percentage from 1906-08. He was on four pennant winners and two World Series champions. Eric Rasmussen (1975-83) won 11 of his 50 career victories under his birth name, Harry Rasmussen. He changed his name to Eric before the 1977 season, saying that he wanted a name to reflect his Scandanavian ancestry. (He named his first-born son Harry. Go figure.) He finished with a 50-77 record. Elmer Riddle (1939-49) pitched for the Reds during World War II, leading the NL in ERA and winning percentage in 1941 and in victories in 1943. When the war ended, Riddle wasn’t very good anymore. Riddle’s record was 47-26 with a 2.76 ERA from 1941-43, and he was 18-26 with a 4.46 ERA for the rest of his career.

Bullpen: Closer Ed Roebuck (1955-66) will room with Ed Reulbach, just to confuse the people at the hotel. Roebuck pitched for the Dodgers during the transitional period between Brooklyn and L.A., winning two pennants and a World Series title. He won 52 games and saved 62. Spent some time with the Senators and Phillies at the end of his career. Enrique Romo (1977-82) pitched in Mexico for more than a decade before coming to the majors at age 29. He won 44 and saved 52 for the Mariners and the Pirates, winning a World Series title with Pittsburgh in 1979. Eduardo Rodriguez (1973-79) was a durable, consistent reliever who won 42 games in his career, mostly for the early Milwaukee Brewers teams. Ed “Rock” Rakow (1960-67) went 36-47 while splitting his career between the rotation and the pen for four teams. Edwar Ramirez (2007- ) has won seven games in the majors and pitched for the 2008 World Series champion Yankees. His career may have run out of steam, as he got hammered during a brief season in Mexico in 2011, but he is just in his early 30s and could resurface. And, yes, it’s Edwar, not Edward. Lefty Erasmo Ramirez (2003-07) won eight games for the Rangers. Eddy Rodriguez (2004-06) won two games for the Orioles.

Bench: Utility man Ed Rowen (1882-84) and backup catcher Emmett Rogers (1890) weren’t very good players, but they had great mustaches. Infielder Eddie Rogers (2002-06) played in 30 games and had 30 plate appearances. He was occasionally used as a pinch-runner but was thrown out on both stolen base attempts. Infielder Ed Roetz (1929) batted .244 for the St. Louis Browns. Outfielder Eric Reed (2006-07) played briefly for Florida, and in a fit of statistical sadism, manager Fredi Gonzalez gave him just one more at-bat in 2007 so that Reed’s career numbers would be 6-for-61 and a .098 batting average.

Manager: Edwin Rodriguez managed the Marlins at the end of 2010 and the start of 2011. His career record is 78-85. He had some success at first but resigned early in the 2011 season while his team was on a 1-17 tailspin. First Puerto Rican manager in major-league history.

ES: The Esix Sneads

Infield: Second baseman Eddie Stanky (1943-53) was a diminutive firebrand known as “The Brat.” He was a .270 hitter, but he drew a huge number of walks – he led the National League three times, including two seasons of more than 140 walks – and the pitchers weren’t working around him because of his power. His batting eye led to a career on-base percentage of .410, and he scored a lot of runs – over 100 twice, and four more times at 90 or above. For his career, he had 996 walks and just 374 strikeouts. He played for five different NL teams in his career, in part because of his feisty personality, but he was a very valuable player and had a good reputation on defense as well. Shortstop Everett Scott (1914-26) gives this team a double play combination of “The Deacon” and “The Brat,” which sounds like the title for a bad sitcom, or maybe a 1970s farce starring Dom Deluise and Robbie Rist. Scott, a slick fielder with an anemic bat, spent most of his career with the Red Sox and Yankees and won four World Series titles. He played in 1,307 consecutive games, a record that was subsequently surpassed by his Yankees teammate Lou Gehrig. Third baseman Ezra Sutton (1871-88) was a fine player in baseball’s early years, a career .294 hitter who led the National League in hits in 1884 at age 34. First baseman Earl Sheely (1921-31) was a good player who batted .300 in his major-league career, mostly with the White Sox, but who also had a long and prosperous career in the minors. Adding them together, he had 3,659 hits in pro baseball, which included 680 doubles and 245 home runs.

Outfield: Among Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter and the two unrelated Elmer Smiths, there’s not a natural center fielder, so the specific positioning among the outfielders is sort of in flux. Slaughter (1938-59) was a legendary hustler, batting .300 and scoring 1,242 runs, mostly for the Cardinals. He was a North Carolina boy, known as “Country,” and his reputation suffered some with future generations because he was frequently identified as one of the ringleaders of an attempted players strike to protest Jackie Robinson breaking the color line. During that 1947 seasons, Slaughter viciously spiked Robinson on a play at first base, though he always insisted that it was not an act of racism but simply a reflection of the style of play that earned him a reputation for dirty play. In effect, Slaughter said he would have spiked any first baseman – black or white – on that particular play. He won two World Series titles with the Cardinals – including his famous “mad dash” from first to home to beat the Red Sox in 1946 – and then won two more in his 40s as one of Casey Stengel’s role players with the Yankees. Elmer John Smith (1914-25) was a fine outfielder for Cleveland, and he hit the first grand slam in World Series history – in Game 5 of the 1920 Series, the same game in which teammate Bill Wambsganss turned the only unassisted triple play in postseason history. Smith was a good hitter with some power but only had one season in which he played more than 130 games. Elmer Ellsworth Smith (1886-1901) started out as a pitcher – he won 34 games and led the American Association in ERA in 1887 – but was converted to the outfield and finished his career with an on-base percentage of .398, one of the top 100 on-base averages of all time. He batted .310, drew a lot of walks, and he averaged 26 doubles and 18 triples per 162 games over the course of his career. He will be called upon, as needed, to work some long relief and maybe even make a spot start or two.

Catcher: Earl “Oil” Smith (1919-30) was a good, smart catcher who batted .300 over the course of a career that was spent largely in platoons. Twice in his career, he was given the opportunity to play more than 100 games, and in those two seasons he batted .313 and .346. He won World Series titles with the Giants and the Pirates and also won a pennant with the Cardinals.

Rotation: Ervin Santana (2005- ) is just now hitting his prime. His record is good – he was 76-55 coming into the 2011 season – but his ERA is no better than league average. He is a solid, durable starter on a good team, and a no-hitter in 2011 doesn't hurt his resume. Eric Show (1981-91) had a similar career with the Padres, with a 101-89 record and an ERA right around league aveage – but his career was a star-crossed mixed bag. He gave up Pete Rose’s hit to break Ty Cobb’s record, and he sat on the mound and pouted during the ensuing ceremony. In 1987, after Andre Dawson hit a home run off of him, Show drilled Dawson in the face with a pitch, prompting several Cubs to charge out of the dugout after Show while Dawson lay in the dirt bloodied. Eventually, Dawson got up and chased Show around the infield as well. Show was an intellectual who often had a hard time relating to less literate teammates; bothered by the large salary he drew as a pro athlete, he would freqently walk to dinner during road trips and pick up a homeless man en route to the restaurant to share dinner with him. Proclaiming that “Ronald Reagan is too far to the left for me,” Show became an outspoken member of the hard-right John Birch Society and recruited a couple of Padres teammates to join him in handing out the group’s literature. He eventually become highly unpopular with teammates, and his use of amphetamines and painkillers ultimately led him to crystal meth and cocaine. Addiction brought his career to a rather sudden end, and he died at age 38 in a rehab clinic. Lefty Eddie Smith (1936-47) was probably a better pitcher than Santana or Show, but he finished his career 40 games below .500 (73-113) because he played for bad teams. Pitching for the White Sox, he was selected for the all-star games in 1941-42, despite going 13-17 and 7-20 in those seasons. He pitched for a decade and never had a winning season, but his career ERA was markedly better than league average. Lefty Ed Siever (1901-08) led the AL with a 1.91 ERA in 1902 but had an 8-11 record for the Tigers. He pitched consistently well for several years but did not get along (or even pretend to get along) with Ty Cobb, and the Tigers released him as soon as his stats started to slip. Ed Stein (18990-98) holds the career record for most victories by a pitcher with the initials E.S. Go figure. He went 109-78. His single-season high was 27 victories, but this was at a time when a pitcher had to be in the mid-30s to lead the league.

Bullpen: Closer Elias Sosa (1972-83) was a solid but unspectacular pitcher during an itinerant career. Three times he posted save totals in the teens, but he never had 20 in a season. He finished his career with 83 saves. Ernie Shore (1912-20) was primarily a starter but gained his niche in baseball lore with the greatest long relief performance in history. On June 23, 1917, Red Sox starting pitcher George Herman “Babe” Ruth walked the Washington Senators’ leadoff batter on four pitches, then got ejected for attempting to attack the home plate umpire. Shore took over on the mound, and the baserunner was summarily thrown out attempting to steal. Shore then retired 26 straight batters, good for a combined no-hitter facing the minimum number of batters. That game remains Shore’s legacy, but he was a good pitcher and a key member of two championship teams, going 3-1 with a 1.82 ERA in the 1915-16 World Series for the Red Sox. Ed Seward (1885-91) was born Edwart Sourhardt but changed his name, perhaps in honor of Lincoln’s secretary of state but more likely becaue he didn’t like the name Sourhardt. Seward was primarily a starter and won 81 games between 1887-89. Ed Sprague Sr. (1968-76) bounced around the majors for a few years and was occasionally effective – but only occasionally. Elmer Singleton (1945-59) won 184 games in the minors (and lost 186), to go along with an 11-17 record in the majors. He washed out of the bigs in his early 30s but returned to pitch for the Cubs in his 40s. Eddie Stack (1910-14), and we assume he was a junkballer because if he had any kind of fastball at all, he surely would have been nicknamed “Smoke.” Everett Stull (1997-2002) had a long career in the minors but only brief cups o’coffee in the majors.

Bench: Ed Sprague Jr. (1991-2001) was a corner infielder who hit 152 home runs but never fully mastered the strike zone. He hit a walk-off home run in Game 2 of the 1992 World Series, winning back the hearts of Toronto Blue Jays fans who had been booing Sprague ever since his wife edged out a Canadian opponent for the Olympic gold medal in synchronized swimming earlier that year. Outfielder-first baseman Ed Swartwood (1881-92) led the American Association in hitting in 1884, and from the looks of things he was a heck of a hitter. He will push Sheely for the starting first base job. Between Swartwood and Sprague, this team will have some serious punch off the bench. Emmett Seery (1884-92) was a contemporary of Swartwood’s, a pint-sized outfielder who bounced around for several years in the early days of the major leagues. Ed Sicking (1916-27) was a light-hitting infielder. Switch-hitter Ebba St. Claire (1951-54) is the backup catcher. Look for the team’s namesake, Esix Snead, to be a September callup. Though he only spent a few weeks in the majors, primarily as a pinch-runner, he made quite an impression on all who saw him play during his minor-league career – stealing 507 bases and playing center field as though his very livelihood depended upon his making sure that no ball ever landed anywhere in the outfield grass.

Manager: Eddie Sawyer had only two winning records in his years at the helm of the Phillies, but he will always be remembered as the manager of the 1950 pennant-winning Whiz Kids. We’re guessing that Eddie Stanky will offer his two cents regarding in-game strategies.

EW: The Edgar Winter Group

Infield: Third baseman Ed Williamson (1878-90), who also answered to “Ned,” was one of the first stars of major-league baseball. He played for the White Sox in Chicago’s Lake Front Park, with its 196-foot right field fence. The original ground rules dictated that a ball hit over that fence would go as a double, and in 1883 Williamson hit 49 doubles. In 1884 the ground rules changed to make balls over that fence a home run, and he hit 27. Based on those two seasons, heheld the single-season record for doubles (until it was broken four years later) and the single-season record for home runs (until Ruth broke it in 1919). His numbers are unremarkable, but players of his era spoke of Williamson almost reverentially. He was a big fellow, listed at 5-11 and 210 pounds, but he moved nimbly and was tremendously respected. First baseman Edgar Wesley was a Negro League slugger of the 1920s. He was a lefty who batted around .320 and hit with power, and while his name never became well known among modern fans, there are those who argue that he should have been considered by the special committee to select Negro Leaguers for the Hall of Fame. Second baseman Enrique Wilson (1997-2004) was a light-hitting infielder who played for very good teams in Cleveland and New York, making it to two World Series with the Yankees. Shortstop Ed Wheeler (1945) was a decent minor-league hitter with good speed who batted .194 in a brief stay with the Indians.

Outfield: Earl Webb (1925-33) was a fine player who is nonetheless remembered today for just one thing – holding one of the more anomalous records in baseball history. In 1931, playing for the Red Sox, Webb hit 67 doubles, breaking the old record by three. In the next few years, several players – Medwick, Greenberg, Waner, Gehringer – took runs at it but came up short. No one else has managed 60 doubles since the mid-30s. Webb himself never hit more than 30 doubles in any other season; those 67 doubles represent 43 percent of his career total, though it must be noted that he was a good minor-league hitter who did tend to bang a lot of doubles. He didn’t establish himself in the majors until he was 29, was only a regular for a couple of years, and was bounced from the majors two years after he set the record. He returned to the minors and hit well for several more years, finishing a 1,200-game minor-league career with a .333 average. Eddie Waitkus (1941-55) is another player known primarily for one thing – he was shot and almost killed by a deranged fan, in an incident that became the inspiration for the backstory of Roy Hobbs and “The Natural.” Waitkus was a first baseman but will shift to his secondary position of left field for this roster. A .300 hitter with no power who basically never struck out, he came up with the Cubs and drew the obsessive attention of a female fan who apparently could not handle the perceived rejection she felt when he was traded to the Phillies in 1949, so she tracked him down at a hotel, posed as an old friend to lure him to her room, and then shot him in the chest. He missed the rest of the season but returned and resumed his career, winning a pennant with the 1950 Whiz Kid Phillies. Center fielder Ernie Walker (1913-15) was the uncle of Dixie and Harry “The Hat” Walker, who both had fine careers. Uncle Ernie’s major-league career was brief. He had a pretty good year for the Browns at age 23, but when he slumped off in 1915 he dropped out of the majors for good, though he did hit .300 in the minors for several more seasons.

Catcher: This position will be a wicked platoon of lefty Ernie Whitt (1976-91) and righty Earl Williams (1970-77), a pair that could easily combine to hit 30 home runs per season.Whitt spent his prime years in Toronto in a highly effective platoon with Buck Martinez. Whitt never batted 500 times in a season, but he had eight straight years with double-digit home run totals. Williams came up with Atlanta at age 21 and won the Rookie of the Year award after hitting 33 home runs in 1971. He was a .250 hitter who struck out a lot, but he had tremendous power and drew a decent number of walks. He was a poor catcher and even worse when he tried his hand at corner infield, and there was a general perception in baseball that he didn’t work as hard as he could have at improving his game. His career went into decline right at the point when he should have been hitting his stride. He was done at age 28 but still managed to pop 138 home runs.

Rotation: Admit it: If someone challenged you to put together a pitching rotation with the initials “E.W.,” you wouldn’t expect to have two Hall of Famers – one of them the all-time ERA leader, and the other a 300-game winner – backed up by a 200-game winner and a couple of 120-game winners. And yet, that’s what we have here, a quintet that totals 960 career wins. Big Ed Walsh (1904-17) won 195 games for the White Sox and had a career ERA of 1.82, the lowest in history. Of course, he posted that ERA in the heart of the deadball era, but on the other hand, a lot of other great pitchers played at the same time and couldn’t touch that ERA. He went 40-15 in 1908, the last pitcher ever to win 40 games in a season. At his peak he was one of the best and most durable pitchers in the American League, leading the league at one time or another in pretty much every statistical category, and he beat the Cubs twice in 1906 to help the White Sox win the World Series. Early Wynn (1939-63) won 300 games in a career that touched four decades. He started out with the Senators and, after World War II he eventually moved to the Indians and was part of Cleveland’s legendary staffs of the 1950s. He later moved to the White Sox, winning 22 games and a Cy Young Award at age 39. He won 20 games five times, pitched in six all-star games and received MVP votes in eight different seasons. Lefty Earl Whitehill (1923-39) won 218 games, mostly for the Tigers though his biggest season (22-8 in 1933) came for the Senators. Like Wynn, he was a tough guy with a nasty temper and one hell of a competitor. In 1933, he shut out the New York Giants in Game 3 to become the last pitcher ever to win a World Series game for the Washington Senators. Earl Wilson (1959-70) won 121 games in his career, mostly winning 11-13 games a year but spiking it to win 18 in 1966 and 22 in 1967. He was a big, strong guy who had 35 home runs and 111 RBI in 740 at-bats (though his average was below .200 and he struck out 271 times). Eddie Lee Whitson (1977-91) won 126 games in a journeyman career that finally settled in San Diego. He is best remembered, however, for an incident that occurred when he was with the Yankees in 1985 – a brawl with manager Billy Martin that began (no surprise) in the hotel bar, rolled out into the lobby and finally finished in a third-floor hallway. At one point, two teammates attempted to break up the fight, restraining Whitson and pinning his arms. Martin took the opportunity to get in a couple of quick shots against the defenseless pitcher, so Whitson did the only thing he could do to defend himself: He kicked Martin in the crotch, sending the manager rolling on the floor and vowing to kill him. By the time the brawl was finished, Martin had a broken arm and two cracked ribs. Martin was fired in the aftermath of the incident.

Bullpen: Closer Eddie Watt (1966-75) had a fine career for the great Baltimore Orioles teams that won four pennants and two World Series titles. He saved 80 games in his career and finished with a 2.91 ERA. He was never overpowering, but consistently good for several years. Ed Wright (1945-52) came up as a starter with the Boston Braves and did alright, but he eventually shifted to the bullpen and did not pitch as well. Ed “Satchelfoot” Wells (1923-34) was a teammate of Cobb in Detroit and a teammate of Ruth and Gehrig in New York. His career was split about evenly between the rotation and the bullpen, but he’s not about to crack this team’s rotation, so he’ll be a stalwart in the pen. Ernie White (1940-48) was another lefty swingman. He came up with the Cardinals and had a couple of outstanding seasons, going 17-7 at age 24 in 1941 and shutting out the powerhouse Yankees in Game 3 of the 1942 World Series. He missed 1944-45 while serving in World War II, and when he came back he struggled to stay in the league for a few years with the Boston Braves. Ernie Wingard (1924-26) was a tall, skinny left who hung around some bad St. Louis Browns teams for a few years, walking three times as many batters as he struck out. Ed Walsh Jr. (1928-32) had his father’s genes but not his wondrous arm. Multiply Ed Walsh Sr.’s ERA by three and you’ve more or less got Ed Jr.’s ERA. Ehren Wasserman (2007-08) was a fine minor-league pitcher but unable to establish himself in the majors.

Bench: The bench starts with whichever platoon catcher isn’t starting, and to be honest, Earl Williams might see some work at other positions to try and get his bat into the lineup a bit more often. Corner infielder Eddie Williams (1986-98) was a power-hitting prospect who never became a full-time starter in the majors, though he did have a couple of pretty good years in limited roles with the Padres. He hit 199 home runs in the minors and lit up the Pacific Coast League for several years whenever he was sent down. Outfielder Eddie Wilson (1936-37) hit relatively well in his two shots with the Brooklyn Dodgers but couldn’t gain a foothold. He is believed to be no relation to the fellow of the same name who later became the leader of the 1960s band Eddie and the Crusiers. Utility infielder Ed Wheeler (1902) had 2,000 hits in the minors and an even dozen in the bigs. Ed Whiting (1882-86) was a catcher who also played some outfield. His presence on the roster will provide some flexibility allowing Earl Williams to pinch-hit. Whiting also played under the name Harry Zieber, and we’re sure there’s a story behind that.

Manager: Earl Weaver, the brilliant and tempermental manager of the Baltimore Orioles, might actually enjoy this team. It has power hitters, a strong platoon combination and a sturdy pitching rotation, all hallmarks of Weaver’s best teams, and it even features that third catcher he always liked to have around. Two key players here, Earl Williams and Eddie Watt, actually played for Weaver. He won three pennants and a World Series title, had a .583 winning percentage, and was well ahead of the curve when it came to tracking statistics and basing game strategies on what he learned. He loved to pick up some spare part that had been discarded by other teams and find a way to make use of that player’s strengths while avoiding his weaknesses. A baseball visionary. Wicked temper, though.

FB: The Foster Brookses

Infield: Frank “Home Run” Baker (1908-22) goes on the short list of the greatest third basemen of all time. He hit 96 home runs, not a lot by today’s standards but quite a few for his time; in fact, he led the American League in homers for four straight seasons, also leading in RBI twice and triples once. He actually earned the nickname for hitting critical home runs in the 1911 World Series off of future Hall of Famers Christy Mathewson and Rube Marquard. He was at the peak of his game in 1914, one of the stars of Connie Mack’s early Philadelphia A’s juggernaut, when he sat out the 1915 season in a contract dispute. Mack eventually sold Baker’s contract to the Yankees, and when he returned in 1916 Baker was still a good player but nowhere near as dominant as he had been in Philadelphia. Second baseman Frank Bolling (1954-66) was a slick fielder with a little bit of pop (106 career home runs). He split his career between the Tigers and the Braves, and upon retiring he headed home to Mobile, Ala., where he started the first-ever “challenger baseball league” for children with mental and physical handicaps. First baseman Fred Beck (1909-15) led the National League in home runs in 1910. That was pretty much the highlight of his career. He was a decent enough player who jumped to the upstart Federal League and never made it back. Shortstop Freddie Benavides (1991-94) had no power, no speed and didn’t hit much. He had a brief career and now works in coaching and player development. 

Outfield: Left fielder Frenchy Bordagaray (1934-45) was a good player with a little bit of speed who was mostly known for being a “colorful character.” He was once fined by manager Casey Stengel for failing to slide into third base on a close play, so the next day when he hit a home run he theatrically slid into all four bases. That earned him another fine. (Asked why he hadn’t slid the day before, Bordagaray said he didn’t want to crush the cigar he had been keeping in his back pocket.) Late in his career, he spit tobacco juice on an umpire and when he was suspended 60 days he remarked that the punishment was “more than I expectorated.” Center fielder Fred Brickell (1926-33) was a backup outfielder for most of his career, which was split between the Pirates and the Phillies. His career average was .281, which would sound a lot better if it wasn’t compiled during a time of tremendous offensive output. (His son Fritz played for a few years as a utility infielder but did not make this roster. In his baseballreference photograph, he looks like a 12-year-old boy chewing a wad of tobacco the size of a golf ball.) Right fielder Frankie Baumholtz (1947-57) was a star athlete at Ohio University and was the first guy ever to play major-league baseball and professional basketball (in a league that predated the NBA). He was a decent player who finished with 1,000 hits and a .290 batting average. In 1952, playing for the Cubs, Baumholtz batted .325 and finished second in the NL batting race to Stan Musial (.336). In a stunt that must have made sense to someone at the time, Cardinals manager Eddie Stanky secretly planned on the last day of the season to bring Musial in to pitch against Baumholtz. When he saw this, Baumholtz – a lefty, like Musial – decided that he would bat right-handed. He slapped at the first pitch and reached base on an infield error.

Catcher: Frank Bowerman (1895-1909) was a .250 hitter who played a long time. He always claimed that he was the one who recommended to the Giants that they acquire a struggling pitcher named Christy Mathewson. Whether or not that’s true, Bowerman did catch a Mathewson no-hitter.

Rotation: Floyd Bannister (1977-92) was a lefty with a live arm. The Astros took him with the first overall pick in the 1976 draft. Because he was the first overall pick, there were always people who thought of Bannister as a disappointment, but he actually had a pretty good career. He won 134 games (OK, so he lost 143, but he wasn’t on great teams). His 4.08 ERA was a little better than league average. He once led the American League in strikeouts. Fred Beebe (1906-16) also led the league in strikeouts – National League, 1906, split between Cubs and Cardinals. His career record was 62-83, and his career ERA of 2.86 was far less impressive in his time than Bannister’s 4.08 was in the 1980s. Francisco Barrios (1974-81) had a rather star-crossed career. He was a talented Mexican righty, combined with Blue Moon Odom on a no-hitter, won 14 games for the White Sox in 1977. But he had drug and alcohol problems that completely derailed his career, and he died of a heart attack – probably cocaine-induced – at age 28. Fred Blanding (1910-14) went 46-46 for Cleveland. He had 278 strikeouts and 277 walks, which is almost as identical as his won-lost record. Frank Baumann (1955-65) led the American League in ERA; one year later, he led the league in earned runs allowed. That was the nature of an up-and-down career that ended up with a 45-38 record and a 4.11 ERA. Spent most of his career with the Sox, both Red and White.

Bullpen: Freddy Beene (1968-75) was a diminutive righty whose best season came in 1973, when he pitched for the Yankees as a long reliever and spot starter, going 6-0 with a 1.68 ERA in 91 innings. He had eight career saves. Fred Breining (1980-84) had two good years as a reliever and a decent season as a starter for the Giants. He was traded to the Expos as part of a package for Al Oliver, but early in the 1985 season he ripped up his shoulder throwing to first on a bunt, and he never pitched again. Lefty Frank Bertaina (1964-70) bounced around the majors for several years. In 1968, he led the AL in wild pitches with 17 despite pitching fewer than 130 innings. That total accounted for half of the wild pitches he threw in his entire career. Frank Barrett (1939-50) really pitched for three years, from 1944-46. That career was sandwiched by one appearance in 1939 and five in 1950, making it look at a glance like he pitched for a decade. On the whole, he was a decent pitcher. His real career was in the minors, where he won 141 games. Frank Biscan (1942-48) was a lefty who was nicknamed “Porky.” He was listed at 5-11 and 190 pounds, so either he lied about his weight, his poundage was distributed disproportionately, or he just had cruel teammates. He made 74 appearances with the St. Louis Browns, struggling with his control and finishing with a 5.28 ERA. Francis Beltran (2002-08) was an enormous lefty (6-6, 255) who pitched for the Cubs, Expos and Tigers. He had a live arm but tended to feed the gopher a little too much. Fred Baczewski (1953-55) was a lefty who had a stretch when he pitched pretty well for the Reds in 1953, but he spent most of his career getting knocked around.

Bench: Infielder Floyd Baker (1943-55) had no power and no speed, but in a good year he could hit .260 and draw some walks. Frank Brower (1920-24) was a first baseman and corner outfielder who was a fine minor-league slugger, and a pretty fair hitter for the Senators and Indians for a few years. His nickname was “Tucky,” but his Southern accent made teammates hear that as “Turkey,” and for unknown reasons they expanded that to “Turkeyfoot.” Frank Bonner (1894-1903) was a middle infielder who had an unspectacular career and who died in his mid 30s as a result of a bad tonsillectomy. Not known to be any relation to the guy who played Herb Tarlek on “WKRP.” German-born Fritz Buelow (1899-1907) was reputed to be a fine defensive catcher. Freddie Bynum (2005-08) was a utility player who could run a little bit.

Manager: Frank Bancroft managed the Providence Grays to an 84-28 record in 1884 by ridin’ the Hoss – Old  Hoss Radbourn, that is, who went 59-12 with a 1.38 ERA. Bancroft managed seven different teams for all or parts of nine seasons. His career record was 375-333.